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How Stockholm looks when you’re dangling at 50 metres

Johan Lindqvist spent some blissful minutes hanging from gymnastics rings high above Stockholm this month.

How Stockholm looks when you're dangling at 50 metres
Photo: Screenshot/Arla Sverige

But one of the drawbacks of doing an ad shoot at sunrise in a freezing cold April is that the wardrobe decisions are somebody else’s.

“I had to wear a tank top and gymnastics outfit, and then get up into the rings,” the stuntman tells The Local.

“The first thing that hit me was how windy it was up there and I thought, damn, it’s really cold, but then I got into the moment and focused on what I was supposed to do.”

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Lindqvist was a perfect pick for the job when Arla dairies wanted an actor for a video that's part of an ad campaign to tie in with the Olympics this summer. The 29-year-old has represented Sweden in gymnastics and can perform the difficult Iron Cross move on a set of rings. 

But hanging from a crane 50 metres in the air was a new experience. 

“I work with stunts and am used to heights but still it was a very nice view up there, seeing Gröna Lund and Slussen,” he said referring to two famous Stockholm landmarks.

The film crew used a drone to get to get the desired shots and Lindqvist was delighted with the end result. 

“I love drone pictures and the last picture is the one I like the most.”

Much as he enjoyed the experience, Lindquist says he hopes in ten years time that he’ll be working as a stunt coordinator and that it won’t be him having to shiver in a tank top at sunrise. 

“We had snow the next day so I’m actually quite happy we got it all done.”


Photo: Johan Lindqvist

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‘The Vikings also wore helmets’: Danes draw on marauding past for cycle safety ad

The Danish Road Safety Council has put the Scandinavian country's Viking past to a hilarious new use: convincing macho Danish men to wear cycle helmets.

'The Vikings also wore helmets': Danes draw on marauding past for cycle safety ad
Svend the Viking does not want to ruin his braids. Photo: &Co

The council’s new advert, “Helmet has always been a good idea”, brings together two somewhat incongruous aspects of Danish life — the country’s love of cycling and its Viking past, using humour to show up some of the silly reasons people give themselves not to wear cycle helmets. 

The advert starts with the imposing Viking chief Svend rousing his men for their next invasion of England. To rhythmic chanting and the blowing of horns, he mounts his steed, brandishing his thick and heavy sword. 

Then, suddenly, his young son comes running bearing his helmet. Svend ignores him, and utters a cry: “To the ships!”. 

After a pause, one of his men nervously asks: “shouldn’t you have a helmet on, Svend?”. 

“No, it’s annoying and it makes my scalp itch,” Svend responds sheepishly. 

“I’m a careful rider,” he adds, slightly desperately.

“What do I do when I get there? Run around in a silly helmet?” he adds. 

Then he roars, “It ruins my braids!” 

It’s only when his wife comes out that he finally dons his gleaming headpiece and with the cheers of his fellow marauders all around him makes his way to the longships. 

Then the slogan — “A helmet has been a good idea for all time” — appears on the screen in rune-like writing. 

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